Thom Yorke

Thom Yorke is the lead singer of Radiohead, one of the world’s most innovative and respected bands.

Appeal

Thom Yorke is not your classic sex symbol. Shy and reclusive, Thom Yorke prefers to let his music do the talking. Lately, though, he has become an outspoken environmentalist as a spokesman for Friends of the Earth. He has also been heavily involved in activist organizations like Amnesty International and Jubilee 2000, and is an honest and open proponent of fair trade. Thom Yorke researched ways to reduce the band’s carbon footprint on their 2008 tour, finding venues and transportation that suited his ideals.

Success

All of Thom Yorke’s critical adoration has translated into an impressive list of accomplishments. Radiohead won Best Alternative Album at the Grammys for both 1997’s OK Computer and 2000’s Kid A, and both albums were nominated for Album of the Year. OK Computer is widely regarded as the band’s greatest works and one of the landmark albums of the ‘90s. Pitchfork Media and Q Magazine have both named it the best album of the ‘90s, with Time, Spin and NME magazines listing it among the greatest albums of all time.

Thom Yorke Biography

Thom Yorke was born on October 7, 1968, in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England. His family moved around a lot when he was young, eventually settling in Oxfordshire. It was here that Thom Yorke would get his first guitar and join his first band at the age of 10. It was at Abingdon, an all-boys school, where Thom Yorke would form the band On A Friday. The band would use the school’s equipment to rehearse, and relocated to Oxford and changed their name to Radiohead.

thom yorke and radiohead release pablo honey

Radiohead’s first album was 1993’s Pablo Honey, which spawned the huge international hit “Creep.” Thom Yorke soon came to resent the song’s success, feeling that it overshadowed the band’s other work, and the band quickly dropped it from their live show. Their second album, The Bends, was a much more consistent effort.

thom yorke and radiohead release ok computer and kid a

In 1997, Thom Yorke and Radiohead released OK Computer, a landmark album that has routinely been cited as one of the best of all time. The album explores various themes of dystopia, control and technology, and was well ahead of its time in the late ‘90s.

The attention brought on by this success left Thom Yorke wondering how to follow it up. For a couple of years after OK Computer, Thom Yorke struggled with writer’s block, which led the band in a completely different direction. In 2000, they released Kid A, a dense electronic album that went without a traditional marketing campaign. It was still a huge success, going platinum in its first week of release.

thom yorke and radiohead release hail to the thief

Thom Yorke brought guitars back into the mix for 2003’s Hail to the Thief, which is the band’s most politically minded album, though Thom Yorke has repeatedly stated that the album’s name is not a direct comment on George W. Bush, as was assumed at the time.

thom yorke and radiohead release in rainbows on website

Thom Yorke and Radiohead made their seventh album, In Rainbows, available through their website as a download, with fans being invited to pay whatever they felt the album was worth. The announcement sent shockwaves through the record industry, and initiated debates about the value of music in the age of downloading.

In August 2008, Thom Yorke was nominated for AM’s Top 49 Men -- you can vote for him here. Then, in October of that year, Radiohead will embark on a tour of Japan, playing shows in Osaka and Tokyo.